A Legend Reborn
by AoMythology
Summary: Rather than Naruto, a reborn Minato contains the Kyuubi; this is his story. Strong, smart, genjutsu-wielding, fuinjutsu master "Naruto".
1. Chapter 1

A Legend Reborn

Summary: rather than Naruto, a reborn Minato contains the Kyuubi. This is his story.

Warning: character death ahead.

_The Rebirth sealing technique, also known as the Fountain of Youth fuuinjutsu._

_Minato invented it as a form of immortality for himself and his loved ones to take advantage of, one without the grotesque properties of Orochimaru's research._

_He had given both Jiraiya-sensei and Sandaime-sama the chance to have it performed on them, but the Third refused and Minato's teacher wanted to wait until he was both fully retired and had faked his death - for obvious reasons._

_The technique turned the target into a newborn infant, so he'd be defenseless._

_It had taken Minato a lot of tries to get right; the animals he experimented on kept dying of old age when they were supposed to still be young._

_He suspected that it was due to damage caused by free radicals of oxygen._

_He tried to reverse that, but it was not enough. Apparently, there were also other things that caused aging._

_The first true breakthrough came when he remembered a legend the Third had told him of years earlier._

_The Rikudou Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths), and a technique of his in particular: the Banbutsu Souzou (Creation of all Things)._

_He tried to recreate its effects to return the animals to a just-born state._

_It took him a long time; it was the longest of the steps for the creation of the jutsu, but eventually he managed._

_It worked flawlessly... except for one thing._

_His test subjects acted like normal newborns, which meant that they had lost all of their memories._

_Minato didn't want that._

_So he made the seal copy them, and then upload them to the subjects._

_The poor animals ended up either in a coma or catatonic, or even dead._

_Minato then tried having the seal upload the memories slowly._

_Still, it was a very painful process for his "lab rats"; those that even survived._

_He was stumped as to why they kept dying, so he decided to focus on the headaches for the time being._

_He didn't know why the headaches came, so he decided to check the seals again._

_Then he noticed it: he had used the kanji for perfect recall in the arrays._

_He quickly formed a hypothesis: those memories weren't with perfect recall to begin with, and the attempt to make them so was the cause of the headaches._

_He did not want to test his assumption, but he suspected that his friend Nara Shikaku, whose memory was eidetic, would not have such a problem._

_The last major hurdle was the fact that the unexplained deaths of some subjects hadn't stopped._

_They looked perfectly healthy, apart from the fact they were dead (or completely catatonic)._

_He had only heard of such a thing in fiction: magic which could supposedly extract the soul of the victim..._

_Of course! The soul!_

_Minato added a part in the seal which made sure the soul remained in the body._

_But then another thought hit him: the soul would revert to its young state, and he would simply have an infant with grown-up memories in his hands._

_So he made sure to exempt the soul from the reverting process._

_From then on, only minor refinements were needed, those mainly owing to the fact that he would be dealing with humans rather than animals._

_He even got a willing human test subject, whom he tested the seal on after making sure it was perfect._

_Of course, it worked flawlessly._

"(Pant) Minato... Naruto... is Naruto... (pant) all right?" The severely weakened due to the extraction of the Kyuubi Kushina asked.

"Yes, he is alright, Kushina; he's in a safe place now." Minato answered.

"Thank goodness... Minato, you have to stop that man and the Kyuubi (pant)... he's heading for Konoha."

Minato took Kushina to the safehouse.

An infant choking could be heard.

"Minato... what's wrong with Naruto (pant pant)?" Asked Kushina, panicked.

"No..." Uttered Minato. "He has been poisoned."

"Minato, there has to be something (pant) you can do! Get a medic-nin (cough cough)! Quickly!"

Minato shook his head, sobs wracking his body. "The poison is too fast acting. There's nothing anyone can do."

He stayed there for a few short seconds holding Kushina, the both of them crying.

Then Minato got up and said: "I have to go. I must save Konoha. I've already formulated a plan."

Kushina raised her head at that. "Reseal the Kyuubi in me (pant)... I'll take it with me to the grave."

"No. I will use _that_ technique." With that, he disappeared with no trace.

In a very short and brutal fight, Minato managed with ease to make the man he thought was Uchiha Madara retreat and lose control over the Kyuubi.

It was quickly made apparent why Minato was considered the greatest Kage of all time, after only a year of tenure and at the tender age of twenty four.

He didn't lose his cool for a second, despite the rage he felt towards the murderer of his child.

It was too bad he didn't manage to kill the man, but there would be time for that in the future.

It would have been easier if the Uchiha hadn't somehow removed the Hiraishin marking.

As soon as the masked Uchiha ran away, Minato approached the Kyuubi.

He got there just in time to use a space-time barrier to send a Bijuudama (Tailed Beast Ball) away from Konoha.

Then, he transported the Kyuubi far away using Hiraishin, after immobilizing it thanks to Gamabunta-sama.

While traveling alone took a minimal amount of chakra, as did carrying a human passenger, taking the Kyuubi with him drained him quite a lot, though he didn't allow that to show in his body language.

He transported Kushina there as well, so that she could help by holding the Kyuubi down, and surrounded the battlefield in a barrier.

During the time she bought him, he prepared the sealing and summoned Gerotora, giving him the key to the seal.

_"Eight Trigrams Sealing Style: Eight Symbols Seal... fuuin!"_

The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style: an ability originating in Uzushiogakure (Hidden Whirling Tide) which allowed for the joining of two, four or eight identical even-numbered seals.

Minato was the only one who had ever used it on such a high level seal as Mito-sama's Four Symbols Seal.

So Minato sealed the beast within himself.

'What potent Chakra!' Minato fell to his knees due to the pressure of Kyuubi's energy. 'How could I have considered sealing even half of such a thing into Naruto? How could Kushina withstand it?'

Then, by force of will, he got up.

He had to finish his jutsu, before the Kyuubi's Chakra destroyed his pathways, otherwise he wouldn't be able to do it for the same reason he was unable to save Kushina: too much damage would be overwhelming for an infant, even if it weren't fatal for an adult.

It was fortunate that while he was more of a finesse and control kind of fighter, his Chakra reserves were still clearly Kage level, otherwise he would have already been ripped apart.

He got the paper with the sealing array out of his pocket and applied it to his chest after getting his clothes off.

"Fountain of Youth Jutsu!"

For a few seconds, there was darkness.

Then, he could see again; but not nearly as clearly, and everything seemed larger.

It had worked!

The pain and pressure caused by the Kyuubi's chakra was also mostly gone.

Though without Kushina's special Chakra and with the full Kyuubi, he would have to constantly keep the Kyuubi from surfacing in the future.

He looked at Kushina. She lay down unmoving.

Minato started bawling his eyes out.

He tried to control himself, but it was harder than he expected.

It could be his physical age that was at fault.

He stopped just in time to see Sandaime-sama arrive at the scene.

Minato must have let the barrier fall while transitioning to a baby.

No, not Minato; Naruto.

_'From now on, I will be known as Uzumaki Naruto; I'll take Naruto's place and make his name legendary!'_ "Naruto" vowed.

The Third would probably give him that name anyway - even if he were to suspect that he was Minato, he would have no other choice thanks to Iwa.

Naruto let himself be carried away by the Third.

He started planning; he would start walking as soon as he could get away with and still be considered human, and subtly train himself to become a better shinobi.

While his Chakra reserves would without a doubt be several times lower than Kushina's, he was still a Jinchuuriki and a former Kage.

And along with his Chakra control which was second only to Tsunade-sama's and reflexes equal to the Fourth Raikage's full-powered lightning armor mode, he would be one hell of a ninja.

Author's Note: I'm back, and with a new story. I haven't given up on Wood, but I was hit with inspiration.  
>I have no idea though on how to keep the villains from being too weak for Minato.<br>Any ideas?  
>BTW, Minato's Chakra reserves are, as he said, many times lower than Kushina at her worst but only a bit lower than Naruto's early on, and as his body grows and his physical energy catches up with his spiritual energy, he will manage to have slightly more than canon!Naruto did - with the right training it will keep on growing, though the difference with Naruto will still remain relatively small.<br>It will be far more than he had in his previous life - obviously.  
>Yes, in my mind Kushina had many times Naruto's Chakra.<p>

Published on January 20, 2012.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto started trying to stand on two feet when he was seven months old, and soon succeeded.

He could walk normally when he was eight months old, and run at nine.

From the moment he could walk and run, he did so as much as possible to train himself physically.

That was when he noticed that his stamina was _freakishly_ high for a baby... and for some first year academy students, for that matter.

The workers at the orphanage didn't like him, that much was obvious.

They didn't mistreat him nor starve him, but they tried to have as little to do with him as possible and kept other children away.

He didn't like the fact that it could have been his son in his place, and would retaliate as soon as he could with Kushina's weapon of choice: pranks.

He was not worried about those though, after all, such things were to be expected for a Jinchuuriki.

No, the worrying part came after he had started his full-fledged physical training and going outside at two years of age - usually without permission.

Most people ignored him or even glared, but some nodded at him out of the blue.

That's when he realized that he had to keep his hair extremely short to prevent it from being spiky, otherwise he would be recognized as a Namikaze and assassinated.

He also decided to pretend to be untalented with the ninja arts and be the dead last when the time to go to the academy arrived.

He thanked the Rikudou Sennin for small favors like the whisker marks; if not for them, his secret would have already been compromised.

Speaking of which, though; where did they come from?

Kushina didn't have them, so they couldn't have signified the presence of the Kyuubi.

The real Naruto did though.

He could remember his face down to the smallest detail.

Individuals with whisker marks: Kinkaku and Ginkaku, Tsunade-sama's mother, Naruto, real Naruto.

What was the common denominator?

Minato quickly sorted them into two categories, those who were children of a female Jinchuuriki and those who weren't.

Of course!

Minato had been _"reborn"_ while bathed in the Kyuubi's Chakra, as were Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

On the other hand, Tsunade-sama's mother and Naruto were _born_ bathed in the Kyuubi's Chakra.

Mystery solved.

At the same time he started going outside, the Hokage began visiting him.

After a slip-up in which he called the man Sandaime-sama, a title nobody used anymore, the Hokage was suspicious and might have figured out something.

When Naruto reached the age of five, he tested his first jutsu as soon as he was completely alone.

It was the Bunshin no jutsu.

After a few tries, he managed to produce one clone.

However, he couldn't make more due to a characteristic of the Clone jutsu, that being that it took better control to produce more of them.

It seemed that the Kyuubi's Chakra made his own harder to control.

Immediately after, he tried Henge and Kawarimi (Transform and Body Replacement).

He succeeded on the first try with each.

Then he decided to improve his Chakra reserves and control.

So, without deactivating his Henge, he started trying to produce two clones.

His second clone looked less and less sickly and pale the more he tried.

When he stopped, he had managed to use (and overpower) the Bunshin no jutsu well over three hundred times.

His Chakra reserves were unreal.

He repeated the same every day after physical training, and by the age of six, Naruto could create seven perfect Bunshin with no hand seals for one hundred and eighty six consecutive times, still without letting go of the Henge.

He also didn't neglect basics like the Rope Escape jutsu and the Cloak of Invisibility, as well as use of ninja weapons.

Whenever Naruto used a lot of Chakra, he had to fight against the Kyuubi, which tried to influence him.

At six, he decided to try a D-rank ninjutsu.

He chose variations of the Shinjuu Zanshu (Double Suicide Decapitation), an Earth-element D-rank jutsu (his second element).

A few days later, he tried Raiton: Byakurai (Lightning Release: Pale Lightning) and Shunshin.

The first time he used the Shunshin, Naruto got close to colliding with a tree, so he chose to wait until his control had improved.

His Byakurai was far wider than it should be for a thin, piercing jutsu, but he got it under control after completing the Leaf Balancing and Tree Climbing exercise.

At seven, he started the ninja academy and was given an apartment to live alone in.

He pretended to struggle with the curriculum, and slacked off when it came to academics - not that he needed to study anyway.

It was fortunate that he didn't need to ask any questions, since his teachers usually ignored him, when they weren't trying to ridicule him; they were also pranked thoroughly.

When he neared his eighth "birthday", Naruto decided to try higher level jutsu and various genjutsu.

His techniques of choice were Earth Release: Mini Landslide (C-Rank), the Shadow Clone (B-Rank), the Hell Viewing (D-Rank), False Surroundings (C-Rank), Double False Surroundings (C-Rank, C-Rank) and Tree Binding Death technique (B-Rank).

That was when he discovered that his affinity for the Shadow Clone was unreal.

He could produce nearly ninety clones without collapsing in exhaustion.

Another discovery was that genjutsu was much harder with the Kyuubi, but after a few days of combining multiple Chakra control exercises and having a small number of his clones execute them, he could use genjutsu once again.

After turning eight and walking on water, Naruto tried the Rasengan.

Rather than the nearly basketball-sized Rasengan he could make in his previous life, he could only make a fist-sized one.

The creation was also up to one second rather than less than a tenth, which it had been before.

His Chakra control needed more work.

He would also repeatedly use the Rasengan and try to put more and more Chakra quickly without it blowing up in his face.

Naruto thought that sparring with his Kage Bunshin would help with his taijutsu, so he started doing so, usually on the water. His reflexes were already at nearly their best.

When Naruto was nine and running laps around Konoha, he met Gai.

"I see that your flames of youth burn brightly, little one!" Gai shouted.

"Hello, Gai-san." Said Naruto politely.

"I see you know my name. Yosh!" Gai grinned, his teeth shining brightly.

That's when Naruto got a crazy idea.

"Gai-san... will you help train me? I'm not asking for much, just the basics and some taijutsu."

Gai pretended to think. "I'll be delighted to teach a fellow hard worker!" He spoke, putting his thumbs up.

Naruto would have to show Gai -or rather Gai-sensei- how good he really was at taijutsu and using tools, and hoped that no one else would find out.

It was perfect; he would have the ultimate sparring partner!

When Naruto was eleven, he decided to finish a project of his: imbuing the Rasengan with an element.

He had a Shadow Clone cover for him and used Hiraishin to go to a place where he wouldn't be disturbed, then started training.

That was when he met the Kyuubi face-to-face for the first time, after suffering from Chakra exhaustion.

Kushina didn't have the same problem when she had Chakra exhaustion -perhaps thanks to her special Chakra- and the real Naruto probably wouldn't have met the Kyuubi so easily either since he would only have had half of it.

Naruto was in a sewer-like place (perhaps because the seal was on his gut, over the "sewers" of the body) infested with thick water -a representation of his Chakra, possibly- and an eerie presence loomed over him.

He noticed that he was in his grown-up body once again, though according to his reflection on the "water", he still had the whisker-marks.

He kept walking and walking, until he arrived at a cage.

An enormous pair of red eyes opened, and there was a slamming noise when Kyuubi charged the bars of its cage.

"Yondaime!" The Kyuubi snarled, full of hate.

"Hello to you too, Kyuubi." Naruto said calmly.

"Grrr... What do you want, bastard?"

"I just ended up here accidentally, but since I'm here, I might as well speak to you."

"What is it that you want to say, Yondaime?" Despite himself, Kyuubi seemed a bit curious, though still very hateful.

"I wish for you to give me Chakra whenever I need it."

"Hmmm... why should I?" Asked the Kyuubi.

"Because if I die, you die with me." Was the answer.

Kyuubi laughed, a wretched, terrifying sound. "Aren't you the strongest of your kind? What do you need my Chakra for? I am not going to give you any, since you won't die anyway."

"I don't know if you have noticed, but I'm young, thus weak, again." Countered Naruto.

Kyuubi considered that for a few seconds. "Very well then, I will give you my Chakra every time you ask for it. Now get out of my sight." It withdrew then.

From then on, he used a few Shadow Clones to speed up his training, along with some Kyuubi Chakra.

A bit over twelve years after the Kyuubi attack, the day of graduation arrived.

Two girls, Ino and Sakura, entered through the door of the classroom at the same time, struggling against each other all the while.

Tsuna-neesama scoffed at them. "You both are a disgrace to kunoichi everywhere."

That started a fight between her and the other girls.

Or, rather, Sakura and Ino were shouting at her and she was ignoring them.

"Ino! Sakura! Sit down!" Shouted Iruka-sensei as soon as he entered the classroom.

When everyone had calmed down thanks to liberal use of the Giant Head, the test started.

They were supposed to perform the Kawarimi to pass.

When Naruto's turn came, he managed it without trouble.

Something was off with Mizuki-sensei though - apart from hating Naruto, that is.

The graduating students were told to return to the academy the day after for the team assignments.

It was also announced that Uzumaki Tsuna was Rookie of the Year, the first time in many years that a girl managed it.

Naruto didn't miss the look of jealousy that appeared on Sasuke's face for a moment.

_Later, outside the Academy_

Naruto sat on the Academy's swing contemplating his next move; should he reveal himself to the Third? And what about Jiraiya-sensei?

Jiraiya-sensei was very likely to know that his student was alive, since the name Namikaze Minato wouldn't have been struck out in the toad contract.

Naruto wondered why Jiraiya-sensei hadn't confronted him yet.

Then Naruto looked up, having sensed Mizuki-sensei.

"Naruto." Mizuki said gently.

"Mizuki-sensei." Was Naruto's response.

Mizuki came closer. "Would you like to do an extra credit assignment, Naruto? So that you won't be the dead last anymore."

"What do I have to do?"

"Infitrate the Hokage's mansion and steal a scroll with the word 'Forbidden' written on it. Then find me in the forest west of Konoha in the morning, learn a technique and give it to me."

'So that's his game. I'll go along with it to explain how I know some of my jutsu, like the Shadow Clone and some variations of it.'

"Don't worry Mizuki-sensei, I'll do it in no time! Easy!" Naruto accompanied his words with a grin and thumbs up.

_Hokage's Mansion, at the same night_

Naruto bypassed all the defenses in the mansion with ease, made a Shuriken Shadow Clone of the scroll and sent a Shadow Clone with the copy of the scroll to the agreed meeting place.

Then, he decided to wake up the Hokage and tell him what was happening.

_With Naruto's Shadow Clone_

Naruto had a look at the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, to check whether new jutsu had been added.

...Sunset Embrace? What kind of genjutsu was that?

_The next morning, with Mizuki_

Mizuki was in the forest at the west of Konoha looking for the idiot, Naruto.

'Found you, little monster!' Mizuki thought.

Naruto had a huge scroll next to him, signifying his success.

But Iruka had just arrived, too.

Mizuki tried to overhear what they were saying.

"Good morning, Naruto."

"Hello, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, grinning.

"...Naruto, is this the Forbidden Scroll?"

"Ah, Yes, Iruka-sensei! And I learned a few techniques from it for the assignment, just like Mizuki-sensei said."

"Mizuki said... what?"

Mizuki decided to attack before he lost the element of surprise.

_With Naruto's clone_

Naruto reacted as soon as Mizuki made his move and deflected all of Mizuki's kunai, protecting Iruka.

"So the dead last has some skills, after all." Sneered Mizuki.

"I won't let you harm Iruka-sensei."

"Try stopping me, moron. You may be better than I thought, but you are no match for me!"

Mizuki threw a fuuma shuriken, which Naruto deflected with one of his own.

Then he used Shunshin to appear in front of Mizuki, kicked him in the leg and finished him with a powerful elbow to the head, knocking him unconscious.

To be certain that there would be no more problems with Mizuki, he marked him in the back of the neck for Hiraishin, tied him with a rope tightly and sealed his Chakra.

Iruka was astonished. "How...?"

"I'm better than I let on, Iruka-sensei." Explained Naruto.

Tsuna-neesama, who had watched the entire episode play out, left at that moment.

Naruto wasn't exactly a sensor, but he could locate a Chakra signature thirty to thirty-five metres away, more if there were Hiraishin markings around.

Iruka seemed torn on what to do in regards to Naruto, and Naruto prepared for combat while still seeming fully relaxed - a trick that of all three of his students, only Kakashi had managed with any proficiency, though he always seemed a little stiff.

Iruka soon relaxed though, and Naruto internally sighed in relief.

Kushina would have had the teacher wrapped around her finger and treating her with ramen by this point, but Naruto was not a true troublemaker, thus it was hard for him to relate with the man.

_Later in the Hokage's office, with the original Naruto_

"I will consider rooting out the traitor Mizuki and defeating him as well as protecting the Forbidden Scroll a B-Rank mission, and will pay you accordingly." The Hokage told Naruto.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Now, onto other business. There's an S-Rank secret concerning you Naruto, and it's high time you were told." The Hokage said gravely.

"I already know about it, Hokage-sama." Naruto admitted.

The Hokage didn't seem at all surprised. "What happened to the real Naruto?"

So the Hokage had guessed what happened. Minato's empty robes and used sealing paper next to the baby were a dead giveaway, after all.

Naruto answered, full of grief. "He was murdered by the Uchiha with a Kiri hunter-nin mask, the one who unleashed the Kyuubi."

"So, what will you do now, Minato?"

"Call me Naruto, Sandaime-sama. For all intents and purposes, I am now Naruto."

"Very well."

Naruto continued. "I will find the masked man and kill him, become Hokage again and bring peace to the world according to Jiraiya-sensei's vision."

"I wish you good luck, my boy."

"Thank you, Sandaime-sama."

"Another thing, Naruto. Who do you wish to be assigned with for your Genin cell? Or would you like to be promoted to Jounin or Tokubetsu Jounin immediately?" Questioned the Third.

"Genin is fine, it wouldn't do for you to be seen showing favoritism. And any team is fine, really; especially if I am with the best male student Sasuke and Tsuna-neesama as expected. I want to keep an eye on Sasuke, he is very talented and a flight risk."

"Good. You can go now, Naruto, The team assignments are soon."

Naruto left the Hokage's office and headed for the Academy.

Next time, he would ask the Third for his opinion on Iwa's peace proposal.

It very well could have something to do with Naruto.

If he knew the Hokage as well as he thought, though, he would be right in that Sarutobi would sign anyway.

_Konoha Shinobi Academy_

"...Team 7 is Uzumaki Tsuna, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Your teacher will be Hatake Kakashi. Team 8 is Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Haruno Sakura. Your teacher will be Yuuhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in circulation from last year. Team 10 is Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino. Your teacher will be Sarutobi Asuma..." Iruka gave the team assignments.

Naruto wondered what Kakashi was like now - he hadn't met him in this life.

Two and a half hours later, he wasn't looking forward to meeting Kakashi so much anymore.

'So he's copying Obito's habits; the Copy Ninja, indeed...' Thought Naruto glumly.

He decided to prank Kakashi; he put a storage seal full of water over the door and made it activate with a proximity ward.

He also covertly put a Hiraishin seal next to the proximity ward, in case he needed it later. He had marked many locations whenever he could.

"What are you doing Naruto, are you trying to prank a Jounin? It's not going to work." Said Tsuna-neesama.

"Hn." Grunted Sasuke.

"Are you willing to bet on it, Tsuna-neesama? You suck at gambling, you know that."

At that moment, the door opened and Kakashi went through it, being drenched thoroughly in the process.

Naruto laughed. "Hahaha, he fell for it! See?"

Kakashi then said impassively "My first impression of you guys is... I hate you all. Meet me on the roof."

Naruto sweatdropped.

_Roof of the Konoha Ninja Academy, a few minutes later_

"Why were you so late, by the way, sensei?" Asked Tsuna very sweetly.

Kakashi must have been oblivious to the danger. "Oh, that? You see, there was a ladder in my way and I had to take the long way around to avoid the bad luck."

Tsuna looked ready to pummel Kakashi.

Before she could decide to do so however, Kakashi spoke. "Maa, maa, Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? Brown-eyed blonde, you are first."

"I am Uzumaki Tsuna. I like medical ninjutsu, gambling, drinking and my aunt. I dislike it when Aunt takes what I like away. I also dislike death and useless wannabe kunoichi. My hobby is gambling, as I said, and training to be the best. My dream is to be the greatest kunoichi in the Elemental nations."

Kakashi sweatdropped at the bad habits a twelve-year-old had. He would need to have some words with that aunt of hers.

"Next." Kakashi showed Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are Tsuna-neesama, the Hokage and... a certain person's cooking." He grew sad at that. "My dislike is bigots. My hobby is reading and pranks, and my dream is to be acknowledged by everyone and become a great -no, the best- Hokage."

"Now the broody one."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like very few things, and dislike many. My dream -or, rather, ambition- is to resurrect my clan and to kill a certain man."

Kakashi addressed them again. "Now that we got the introductions out of the way, there is something I have to tell you-" He said, then collapsed in faked laughing.

'Here it comes...' Thought Naruto.

Tsuna and Sasuke both remained impassive.

"Tomorrow, we will have survival training; but it is no normal training. Your opponent will be me, and you will be tested to see if you are worthy to be Genin. The failure rate is over 66 percent! Here are the details." Kakashi dropped a scroll. "Don't eat, or you'll throw up." He finished, leaving.

_Next morning, Training ground 7_

"Where the hell is he?" Shouted Tsuna.

"Please calm down, Tsuna-neesama." Naruto tried to pacify her.

"Fuck you, Naruto!" She snapped at him.

Soon after, Kakashi appeared.

He set an alarm clock to noon, which was one hour later, and explained to the Genin what they had to do.

Author's note: Here's chapter 2.  
>So, can anyone guess who Tsuna is? She is not an OC, nor is she from another manga.<br>I've given you way too many hints.

Published on January 23rd, 2012


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: In case you haven't guessed already, Uzumaki Tsuna is Tsunade. Mito, her grandmother, was an Uzumaki, that's why Tsunade chose that surname.  
>Tsunade has been training since she could walk, like Naruto, and focused mainly on speed, her weak point. "Aunt Shizune" helped her train.<br>The reason nobody has recognized her (except for Naruto and the Third) is that she has used her advanced Henge to change her features. Her eyes, for example, are Nawaki-colored.  
>She also got used to blood again as a medic-nin in the hospital under an alias and an older-looking Henge.<br>And yes, Tsunade is actually the one who volunteered to test the youth jutsu.  
>And before I forget: Byakurai is from Bleach, which I don't own.<br>"Jiji" means old geezer.

_"Where the hell is he?" Shouted Tsuna._

_"Please calm down, Tsuna-neesama." Naruto tried to pacify her._

_"Fuck you, Naruto!" She snapped at him._

_Soon after, Kakashi appeared._

_He set an alarm clock to noon, which was one hour later, and explained to the Genin what they had to do._

"Go!"

Sasuke ran for the trees to hide, but Naruto and Tsuna stayed where they were, then followed Sasuke.

After a brief conversation, Naruto and Tsuna managed to convince Sasuke to work with them.

Sasuke threw three shuriken at Kakashi while Naruto stealthily attacked from behind and nearly skewered Kakashi with a kunai.

Then Tsuna charged Kakashi, who blocked her fist. 'Bad move, Kakashi.' Thought Naruto, getting away from them.

A snapping sound was heard, echoing through the clearing and Kakashi was thrown towards a tree, hitting the back of his head and falling unconscious.

Naruto walked up to him, took the bells and gave them to Sasuke and Tsuna. "Overkill, Tsuna-neesama."

Naruto then proposed a spar.

"Hn."

"You saw how strong I am - are you sure you want to fight me, Naruto?" Said Tsuna cockily.

"I won't be stupid enough to try to block your punches, Tsuna-neesama."

"Yes, but will you be quick enough to avoid them? I am much quicker than I was in my... than I was before." Bragged Tsuna.

"I am built for speed." Was Naruto's answer.

Tsuna narrowed her eyes at that. It seemed that she started to suspect who Naruto truly was.

Sasuke got out of the way, and both Naruto and Tsuna got into a stance.

Sasuke acted as referee. "Begin!"

Both stayed immobile for a few seconds.

When wind started to blow, they pounced.

Naruto drew four shuriken and threw them at Tsuna. She easily evaded and reached Naruto, then punched at him.

He also evaded easily, but Tsuna followed up with another punch and a kick, which were a bit harder to avoid.

Naruto jumped back to create space, but Tsuna covered it immediately. 'She wasn't kidding!' Naruto thought. 'She is much quicker and faster!'

Naruto decided to kick it up a notch, pulled back much faster than before and created two Kage Bunshin.

One clone circled Tsuna to attack her from behind, the other attacked from Tsuna's left and the original Naruto threw a few kunai.

Tsuna bent at the waist to avoid the kunai, which nearly hit the clone behind her.

She then punched that clone, which was off-balance.

It still got close to evading, but even a glancing blow was enough to dispel it.

The clone on her left punched at her shoulder, which was evaded.

But it used Raiton: Byakurai (Lightning Release: Pale Lightning) to paralyze said shoulder.

Tsuna managed to move again, enough to only be grazed, but her shoulder was numb anyway.

By the time she realized what was happening, she was punched in the jaw by Naruto.

Tsuna wiped some blood off the corner of her mouth. "You are much better than I thought. How could one such as you be dead last? Most chuunin would be no match for you."

"Deception." Was the answer.

Tsuna nodded. "That's what I thought. You haven't seen my full speed yet though; my thanks go to the Fourth Raikage."

Lightning covered Tsuna.

So she has reverse engineered _that_ jutsu? Damn that A, he created a monster...

Tsuna ran at Naruto.

He dodged her first punch, but was nearly clipped by the second one.

It seemed that her left arm was fully functional again.

She kicked him in the chest and he was thrown away.

She was almost as fast as A without his Armor already, too; soon Tsunade-sama would be the strongest of the Sannin.

'She either held back with this, or she can't use her super strength in conjuction with the Lightning Armor yet. Considering how prone she is to overkill, it is probably the latter. She still hits very hard though.'

Naruto got tired of being on the defensive and created three Kage Bunshin.

They immediately used Shunshin to attack Tsuna from three directions.

Tsuna was repeatedly kicked in the legs, but remained standing.

He could have made her collapse if the clones had used kunai or the Rasengan, but neither was a good idea.

She got one clone by the neck, hit another in the head with its own and dispatched the third with a rapid punch.

'Where is Naruto?' She thought.

She jumped away at the same moment Naruto exited the ground.

He touched her heel, but did nothing else.

"Should we call it a draw?" Proposed Naruto.

"Good idea." Answered Tsuna, panting.

The Hiraishin tag on her heel might be of use in the future, he would mark Sasuke as well.

They heard muted clapping, and turned to see Kakashi clapping with one hand. He had woken up.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and noticed that he was enraged. 'What's his problem? Jealousy again?'

_Later, the Hokage's office_

"We will wait for Kakashi to arrive, only then will the prospective Jounin sensei tell me how their tests went." Said the Hokage.

At that moment, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke.

His right arm was in a cast and his head bandaged.

Some of the Jounin asked what had happened.

"My Genin happened." Said Kakashi lazily.

The Hokage hid a smile.

"Team Six failed."

"Team Seven passed... obviously."

"Team Eight passed."

"Team Ten passed too, pops."

"Very well, you are dismissed." The Jounin all departed, except for Kakashi, who was prompted to stay behind.

"So, what did you think of your team, Kakashi?"

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, they aren't normal Genin at all. If I didn't know better, I would say that the blondes are plants."

The Hokage stayed silent for a few moments, then spoke. "Kakashi, do you know who those two really are?"

"Hokage-sama?"

"It is their secret to tell, so you should ask them."

_The next morning, Hokage Tower_

Naruto had his picture taken for his ninja registration.

After that, he met with the Hokage in his office to talk.

They agreed to spar as often as they could in the Hokage's training ground to bring Naruto up to par and allow the Third's rusty skills to be polished.

At some point, a little boy entered.

"Jiji! Fight me! I'll defeat you and take the hat from you!"

The Third sighed.

The boy stepped on his own scarf and tripped, blaming Naruto.

The man who had followed him tried to convince him he had fallen on his own.

Naruto lifted the brat by the collar.

"Unhand him this instant, Naruto! This is the honorable grandson of the Sandaime Hokage-sama!"

Then Naruto put him over his knee and spanked him. "Misbehaving brats get what they deserve."

The man, who Naruto found out was called Ebisu the "elite tutor", was sputtering and trying to speak.

When Naruto left, he saw that Konohamaru was following him.

The boy's ninja skills needed a lot of work, that was one really bad use of the Cloak of Invisibility...

When Naruto called him on it, Konohamaru asked him to become his boss and teach him how to be a ninja.

Naruto reluctantly agreed, and had the boy show him the Bunshin no jutsu.

He could make three Clones.

Naruto recommended that he try the Leaf Balancing exercise, with multiple leaves if possible, to be able to make more clones.

Then came the Kawarimi no jutsu.

"Try visualizing the object you are switching with and its location. Put in less Chakra for smaller distances."

Konohamaru's Henge though, unlike the other techniques, didn't work well at all - it always ended up bloated and far uglier than the original.

Naruto told him to use a bit less Chakra, but the problem persisted.

Naruto dragged Konohamaru to the hot springs, and had him analyze the bodies of everyone there.

First, they bathed in the men's side, but later they also spied on the women's side so that the kid would be able to transform into women as well.

They were doing _that_ kind of research. Jiraiya-sensei would be proud...

It was while they were peeping... ehm... researching that Ebisu found them.

"Ugh... so ungentlemanly - stop this at once! You are corrupting my student!"

Ebisu tried to take Konohamaru away, but Naruto tripped him, grabbed the boy and left with Shunshin.

Naruto chose a training ground and had Konohamaru do some physical exercises.

But first, he asked him a few questions.

"Kid, why do you want the Hokage's position so much?"

Konohamaru explained how nobody saw him for himself, that everyone only saw the Hokage's grandson.

"You are just a little boy, you can't expect people to acknowledge you that easily... Konohamaru. You have to work hard. There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage." 'I know that well.'

Konohamaru's face lit up at the acknowledgement.

Whenever Konohamaru paused in his exercises, Naruto would remind him of the importance of hard work.

Soon enough, the boy focused and stopped trying to skip on the training.

When he finished, they worked on the boy's throwing skills, then taijutsu.

In the trees was Ebisu, watching.

After teaching the boy some katas of the Monkey style and the Academy's style and sparring with him for an hour, Naruto decided to impress on him the importance of Genjutsu.

'Magen: Nijuu Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings technique)!'

Konohamaru sat down, panting.

"Konohamaru, there's something I have to tell you."

"Boss?"

"What do you see behind you?"

Konohamaru looked behind but saw nothing, and reported as much.

Naruto showed him how to break Genjutsu by sending Chakra through the head's pathways and the young boy tried it. "Kai!"

A flash of Chakra enveloped him. "Don't overpower it; This needs finesse, not large amounts of Chakra."

Naruto explained how Genjutsu used a very low ratio of physical/spiritual energy -that is; mostly spiritual energy- making the explanation as simple as possible for Konohamaru.

"That's why Genjutsu falls under the category of Yin Release, like Iryoujutsu (medical jutsu) and others."

He then explained how Genjutsu used small amounts of Chakra to affect the Chakra pathways that went to the brain to fool it.

Finally, he told Konohamaru that to succesfully use "kai" to break a Genjutsu, one had to use the same percentage of Yin -spiritual energy- as the caster did and the same amount of Chakra as what went through the brain's pathways in approximately 1.33 seconds for each rank one went up (1.33 sec. for E-Rank genjutsu, 2.66 sec. for D-Rank genjutsu...).

Genjutsu could be modified in such a way that their rank changed, so Naruto warned Konohamaru about that; however, Naruto admitted that only experience could help in identifying the rank of a modified or unknown genjutsu.

The percentage of spiritual energy could be detected by how solid the objects that appeared in the Genjutsu seemed - the more solid they seemed, the less Yin was used.

The better Chakra control and genjutsu aptitude the caster had, the more accurate the victim's Yin percentage and Chakra expenditure had to be.

After a lot of tries, Konohamaru managed to break the first layer of the Genjutsu, making the Naruto in front of him disappear and another one appear.

He started.

Naruto was behind him all this time, and he never noticed.

"You do understand that I could have killed you several times over, Konohamaru?" He said tapping the kunai he was holding.

Konohamaru paled.

Oh yes, lesson learned, though he would repeat it next time to be certain.

Of course, Naruto had dumbed down his Genjutsu, but still, Konohamaru showed impressive Chakra control for someone so young and with such high reserves.

Not to mention the fact that he could control the ratio between his physical and spiritual energy so well and grasped the technical explanations with such ease - he might very well be as talented as his grandfather.

As a powerhouse, he would still be unable to use Genjutsu probably, but it wouldn't be his weakness, either. Though there was a way to rectify that as well, if his reserves were as deep as Naruto thought...

"By the way... that was only half the Genjutsu." That Naruto vanished as well, and the actual Naruto was, again, holding a kunai to Konohamaru's neck.

"Never assume that what you got was the full Genjutsu. It might be that two, three or even twenty Genjutsu are layered together, especially when you are dealing with someone like Uchiha Itachi."

Konohamaru gulped and nodded.

"And speaking of the Uchiha - never make eye contact with one, at least not those whose Sharingan is fully developed. They can also cast Genjutsu if you look at their hands, but the ones cast with eye contact are inescapable if you are on your own."

Naruto ended his lecture by stating that to dispel more than one layer of a genjutsu at a time, one had to split their Chakra in such a way that two or more thin pipes of Chakra went through the head's Chakra network.

He warned Konohamaru, though, that this technique took an enormous amount of concentration and Chakra control, especially if the different layers had a differing ratio of Yin and/or were not of the same rank.

Naruto left, promising to teach the boy again whenever he had the time.

Next time, he would make sure that the kid's Cloak of Invisibility was up to par -it needed a lot of work- and test his rope escaping ability.

He would also train both his body and his mind very hard, since larger Chakra reserves would benefit Konohamaru immensely.

Author's note: I hope you like my Genjutsu mechanics - not many authors bother going into details when it comes to this neglected branch of jutsu.

Published on January 26, 2012


	4. Chapter 4

Team 7 was in the Hokage's office, about to receive a mission.

However, the Hokage spoke before Kakashi could make the request. "Kakashi, do you think your team could handle a C-Rank mission?"

Kakashi grew serious immediately. "Sasuke could give most chuunin a run for their money, and will be even stronger when he masters his lightning affinity, which he has recently started working on. The others are stronger yet, and their teamwork is certainly up to par."

"Very well. Be careful though, this C-Rank might be more than meets the eye..." Then he spoke to the chuunin on duty, Iruka. "Bring in Tazuna."

A tall, glasses-wearing grey-haired man carrying a flask which reeked of sake entered.

"I am the master bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you all to protect me with your life." Then, he looked team seven over. "What's this? These super brats are going to be protecting me? They all seem super weak, especially the princess."

Tsuna's eyebrows started twitching.

Kakashi assured him that as a Jounin, he would be more than enough to protect the man from any bandits and ruffians.

They set off the same afternoon.

"Kakashi." Said Tsuna. "Wave has no ninja villages, right?"

"Yes, that is correct." Was the answer. 'No "sensei" again. None of the three calls me sensei - I get no respect, I tell you!'

"So there isn't much of a possibility for ninja combat, is there?" Asked Naruto.

"That is correct." Answered Kakashi, though he didn't seem completely convinced himself.

Naruto didn't blame him, especially considering the way Tazuna twitched at the mention of ninja combat.

He saw that Sasuke noticed as well, but Tsuna didn't seem to have.

But considering Tsuna was a Kage-level kunoichi, it was more likely that she had noticed but was subtle enough to hide the realization.

'Kakashi must have noticed as well...'

After some time, the team passed next to a puddle.

'It hasn't rained in a while... Hiding in Water jutsu?'

Naruto substituted himself with a clone and made sure that it was next to Tazuna, to be ready to use Shunshin to escape.

He would have preferred to use Hiraishin, but he didn't want to reveal himself yet, so Shunshin it was.

His Shunshin would be too fast for anyone but a Kage and a doujutsu user to even follow anyway. It wasn't a space-time jutsu, but it would do.

Naruto also placed a Triple False Surroundings genjutsu so that it seemed like they had never left.

Two figures emerged from the puddle, attacked, wrapped Kakashi in chains and ripped him apart - Naruto wasn't worried though, nor fooled.

By the time they "killed" him, Naruto had thrown a few kunai, pinning the chains to a tree.

The missing-nins disconnected the chain and one charged Naruto, while the other bypassed him and went for "Tazuna".

Tsuna got in front of Naruto and punched the one charging him, snapping his spine with a horrifying sound.

Sasuke knocked the other unconscious with the handle of a kunai, taking advantage of his distraction over the death of his partner.

Then Kakashi appeared, not a hair out of place. "Where is the real Tazuna-san? He has some explaining to do."

Kakashi's genjutsu detecting had gotten impressive. Though Naruto doubted he had detected the second and third layer; the first was deliberately not given much attention.

Immediately after, Naruto's clone returned, Tazuna in tow.

After some coaxing, Tazuna explained the situation in Wave, including Gatou the shipping magnate being after him and the importance of his bridge.

Kakashi didn't even bother asking his students whether they wanted to continue the mission, he just looked at them and they nodded.

"Now that this is resolved..." Kakashi turned to Tsuna. "What was with that punch? I refrained from asking you when you hit me with it, but now you killed in cold blood. Was it really your first kill?"

Tsuna smirked. "I might as well tell you. Do you know what the Fountain of Youth jutsu is?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful. "I know that it was a project of Minato-sensei's, but I don't know what exactly it was about."

"Yes, it was a project of the Yondaime. What it did was... turn a person into a newborn version of themselves."

"So you were an adult kunoichi...?"

"The best." Tsuna smiled and released her Henge.

Kakashi was staring open-mouthed.

Naruto would treasure this moment forever.

Even when Kakashi was a child, Naruto hadn't seen such an expression in his face.

It made him wonder what his reaction would be when he found out who his other student was.

Naruto had actually expected that Kakashi would confront him as well, but the shock from Tsuna's revelations might have made him forget about Naruto.

Team seven and Tazuna entered a boat which would take them to the island.

Tazuna went into details over the situation in Wave and described his daughter and grandson.

All too soon, they arrived and disembarked.

Naruto was on his toes; it was very likely that they would have Jounin after the bridge builder's head now.

Wait. What was that?

Naruto threw a couple of kunai.

A rabbit?

A white rabbit, this time of the year?

Naruto pulled off a quick Kawarimi.

"Get down!" Shouted Kakashi.

Sasuke obeyed, while Tsuna had already dodged, taking Tazuna with her.

Naruto seemed to be sliced through.

The sword that did the job was embedded in the trunk of a tree.

A man in his mid-twenties landed on said sword and laughed. "So they sent the Copy Ninja Kakashi? And some brats." He looked at Naruto's corpse disdainfully... only to discover a log in its place, which caused him to growl.

Naruto's ninja insticts warned him of an incoming attack, and he used Kawarimi again.

A bolt of lightning pierced the rock he had substituted with.

Naruto had recognized the first man as Momochi Zabuza. An elite Jounin.

And this was... oh crap.

Male in his early twenties with chin-length silver hair, dark violet eyes and pointed teeth.

Houzuki Mangetsu, said to be the most talented swordsman of the Mist in several generations, holding the Kiba (Fangs) in his hands.

While Zabuza was an elite A-Class missing-nin, Mangetsu was easily S-Class.

Kakashi told his students to back off, but Tsuna reminded him of who she was and went on to face Mangetsu.

Before Kakashi could attack anyone, he was accosted by two teenage shinobi.

One of them was in his early teens and had white hair and violet eyes while the other was slightly older, had short blue hair and black bespectacled eyes.

The younger of the pair introduced himself as Houzuki Suigetsu and the other said he was Chojuro.

Sasuke pulled aside to fight a boy in a hunter-nin mask, and a clone of Naruto's took Tazuna away once again, this time casting a Quadruple False Surroundings.

Everyone else had picked an opponent, which left Naruto with Zabuza.

"Heh... this will be a piece of cake."

So Zabuza was still underestimating him. Good.

Naruto threw a few kunai at Zabuza, multiplying them with Shuriken Kage Bunshin.

Zabuza had created five Water Clones, all of which swung their swords to block the incoming kunai.

The clones engaged Naruto close up, but he punched them all to submission.

_With Kakashi_

Kakashi's opponents were talented, but individually not experienced enough to be a match for him.

Together however, they were just good enough to avoid being overwhelmed thanks to their impeccable teamwork.

"Hiramekarei Unleashing!" Shouted Chojuro, turning his sword into a giant hammer.

He then swung it towards Kakashi.

Kakashi substituted himself with a log.

Both of his opponents searched for him.

Suddenly a pair of hands shot out of the ground, grabbing Suigetsu.

"Chojuro!"

"On it!" Chojuro swung his weapon again.

Kakashi used Suigetsu as a shield; but he promptly turned into water.

'Of course, he is a Houzuki. How foolish of me.'

Kakashi quickly sank into the ground again, but didn't escape completely unscathed.

"I really should take you guys seriously." Said Kakashi after emerging again, breathing heavily. "Sharingan!" He shouted revealing his left eye.

He would finish them as soon as he could, then help Naruto; Kakashi just hoped that Naruto would hold Zabuza off long enough.

_With Tsuna_

Tsuna's opponent was extremely fast, making it hard for her underdeveloped body to keep up with.

"Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Release Armor)."

Mangetsu unleashed lightning from both his swords towards her, and she dodged instictively.

She needn't have bothered though, she knew that such low-level lightning techniques wouldn't be enough to affect her through the Armor.

'Behind me!' Tsuna jumped just in time to avoid being skewered.

The first Mangetsu decided to take advantage of her being in mid-air and tried to zap her.

It had no effect whatsoever.

But the second one charged her and slashed at her.

Tsuna made a Water Clone, which pushed her away and toward the ground.

She got close to the first Mangetsu, temporarily deactivated Raiton no Yoroi and punched the ground, creating a crater.

Mangetsu lost his balance but managed to stabilize himself quickly, digging his swords into the earth.

Then he used a similar tactic to Tsuna's and channeled lightning through the Kiba, creating a crater of his own, keeping Tsuna from attacking him and making a makeshift smokescreen.

Tsuna remembered that there was another Mangetsu and ducked, a blade passing where her chest had been moments prior.

She punched his leg... and he went up in smoke.

So he was a Shadow Clone.

She couldn't see the remaining Mangetsu anywhere.

On the water!

"Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall technique)."

He unsheathed one of the Kiba and charged the water technique with electricity.

Tsuna ran with lightning-enhanced speed to evade.

But the mass of water split into two parts, one of which she was nailed with.

She was thrown away with great force, though far less than it would have been had it not split up.

She was also slightly electrified, since the lightning traveled with much more ease in water.

Tsuna hit a tree and cracked its trunk.

Her back hurt, but she toughed it out.

It was fortunate that she had her Armor to protect her.

Mangetsu charged her and engaged her up close.

He slashed at her and she dodged, again and again.

He was getting ever closer to hitting her.

She retreated as quickly as she could, and Mangetsu pursued.

They ended up fighting on the water.

Tsuna was worried that he would trap her in a Water Prison, but that didn't appear to be his strategy.

Perhaps he wanted to tire her out by way of water walking - he must have realized that she was a control type, that she had way less Chakra than him.

She tried to get away from the water, but Mangetsu created three Water Clones between her and land seallessly.

She was starting to get tired because of her Armor and walking on water.

It was fortunate that her version of the Raiton no Yoroi was infinitely more efficient than A's, otherwise she'd already be dead of Chakra exhaustion.

Tsuna got rid of the clones quickly, but Mangetsu had created three more.

It would be a battle of attrition, which she normally would lose.

Tsuna was becoming more certain as time passed that she would have to use her seal.

_With Sasuke_

Sasuke's opponent tried to get him to give up, but he wouldn't; so the boy would fight him for the sake of "Zabuza-san".

Sasuke attacked the masked boy, who had identified himself as Haku, a kunai in hand.

Haku was almost as fast as Sasuke.

He sent a few Water Clones, which were promptly destroyed.

Haku was able to parry Sasuke's hits every time with his senbon; then he blocked with one hand.

Sasuke pushed, thinking that he could break the senbon if he tried hard enough.

"I have two advantages here." Said Haku calmly. "The water my clones left; and that you cannot use ninjutsu as you are. I, however..."

'What? One-handed seals?'

'Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death).'

'Think quickly!' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Got it!'

He used what he had learned from the tree climbing and water walking exercise and did what he would do to crack the trunk of a tree.

This allowed him to jump further and more quickly, thus evading all needles.

Haku was looking for Sasuke, when a salvo of shuriken came at him. He evaded them all, but Sasuke was behind him, with a kunai in each hand this time.

Haku moved away, with Sasuke in pursuit.

Sasuke slashed at him with one kunai, then threw the other almost point-blank.

Haku managed to duck under it, but he was left wide open, and Sasuke kicked him hard.

Haku slided on the ground, then got up.

"Impressive. But can you deal with this?" 'I didn't expect I would have to go this far so quickly. He is quite a bit faster than me.'

'Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou (Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals).'

_With Naruto again_

After Zabuza's Water Clones stopped Naruto's multiplied kunai and Naruto crushed them all with his fists, Zabuza was more wary of him.

He stepped onto the water and started going through hand seals.

Naruto used Shunshin to reach Zabuza's gut and slammed a Rasengan into it.

Then he jumped away before he could do fatal damage, avoiding a few globs of lava.

A red-haired woman took Zabuza away with her own Shunshin after leaving Naruto with a few parting words ("It's a pity you are so young. I'm sure you'll grow up to be gorgeous...").

Naruto didn't follow her, he wanted to make sure everyone was all right. He would check on Tsuna first.

He soon remembered that he could use the Shadow Clone and cursed.

He could have had a clone follow the red-haired woman! Oh well, too late for that now.

He made four Shadow Clones, two for Sasuke and two for Kakashi, and went to find Tsuna himself.

_With Sasuke_

After the other boy entered those blasted mirrors, Sasuke had been clearly outmatched.

He was bloodied and knocked down by the first attack but as time went on, he could see more clearly and avoided increasingly more of Haku's senbon.

However, he also got tired as time went on, and his only saving grace was that the other was also getting tired. In addition to that, his fireball could do nothing against the ice.

His Chakra was also being drained, and since he could see far better, he thought he might have activated the Sharingan.

It was fortunate that he had high Chakra reserves, but his physical stamina might fail him more quickly than his Chakra reserves.

Sasuke vowed to work on his stamina really hard when he had the chance - it would make a difference in Chakra reserves too, since the Uchiha had high spiritual energy always (and Sasuke suspected he, specifically, was better than even his parents and _that man_ in that regard).

Haku started attacking from his left side mainly and, to Sasuke's horror, the senbon that got through increased again.

He wouldn't last a minute at this rate.

_With Naruto's first two Shadow Clones_

Both clones arrived outside the icy dome... and promptly used Doton: Rasengan (Earth Release: Spiraling Sphere) on the outside of one mirror (on opposing sides) each.

After a few seconds the mirrors started cracking... and finally shattered - then were reformed.

Both Narutos thought the same for a moment; what should they do?

Naruto could definitely outlast his opponent's Chakra reserves, but it went against every principle of his to waste the Chakra for more Doton: Rasengan.

Both Narutos reached the same conclusion, quickly moved away from the mirrors and drew two seals each that would vaporize whatever water or ice they touched.

They finished extremely quickly, and applied every seal on the outside of one mirror.

After the four mirrors evaporated, the rest shattered -the boy must have run out of Chakra- and the clones wasted no time and attacked Haku immediately, knocking him unconscious.

They should have made those seals to begin with.

Before they had the chance to apply a Hiraishin seal or other seals on him, two clones of the same woman they had encountered earlier struck.

One put a kunai in front of an exhausted Sasuke's throat and the other grabbed Haku.

This time, he _really_ couldn't follow.

The kunoichi relaxed when her other clone had gone far out of reach and let Sasuke go, collapsing into lava.

Fortunately, it seemed like she hadn't deemed Sasuke a significant threat; otherwise she'd have slit his throat.

...Naruto examined the rapidly cooling lava - she must have a bloodline; interesting.

_With Naruto's second team of clones_

Naruto's Kage Bunshin reached Kakashi, only to find him alone.

Kakashi explained that a redheaded kunoichi and a clone -or two clones of hers- took his opponents away as soon as he revealed his Sharingan.

_With the original Naruto_

Naruto went to where Tsuna was fighting to find her with her Yin seal released, fighting Mangetsu to a standstill.

Naruto tried to sneak behind Mangetsu but was detected at the last moment.

Not before he managed to slice into Mangetsu's shoulder with his kunai, though.

When Mangetsu saw that he was outmatched, he activated a smoke bomb and left.

"I could have beat him on my own, you know, (huff) Naruto."

"And let you waste your precious youth?" Then it hit him how much like Gai-sensei he sounded. "I mean, vitality? If you had to heal yourself using Souzou Saisei (Creation Rebirth), you would shorten this second lifespan of yours, neesama." Naruto grinned.

"How do you know about Souzou Saisei?" Asked Tsuna suspiciously.

_Tazuna's home_

Naruto and the others settled down in Tazuna's home after meeting his daughter Tsunami and his grandson Inari.

Naruto looked at Tsunami appreciatively - over twelve years since he had last been with a woman had passed, after all.

After dinner, Kakashi pulled him aside.

Naruto had been expecting this.

"Naruto, how did you survive so long against Zabuza? He was not an opponent someone of your caliber has a chance against."

"I guess it's time for you to find out, then." Naruto replied.

"Find out what?"

"I took advantage of that jutsu -my jutsu- like Tsunade-sama did."

"Your jutsu... Minato-sensei!" Kakashi was astonished.

"Indeed." Naruto showed off a Raiton: Rasengan. "But I'd appreciate it if you called me Naruto, Kakashi."

"Of course, sensei... I mean Naruto."

"And please pretend that you taught me Rasengan, should I show it in public."

Kakashi nodded, still dazed.

Then Naruto changed the topic. "They will be back, those missing-nin. Though after seeing firsthand how strong we are, they probably will wait until they are all at full health."

Kakashi agreed with Naruto's assessment.

Naruto continued. "I wounded Zabuza in the abdomen with a full-sized Rasengan and a momentum increase from using my modified Shunshin. So, it should take him about forty to forty-five days to fully recuperate without a full-fledged medic-nin." Naruto looked at Kakashi. "You should use that time to train Sasuke. He has the Sharingan now, but not the speed or stamina to take full advantage of it."

"Naruto, you don't have to tell me. I'm the leader of the team for a reason, aren't I?"

"Well, forgive me for not trusting your leadership." Jabbed Naruto.

Kakashi winced, remembering what happened the last time he led his team in his teacher's place.

An uncomfortable silence came over them.

* * *

><p>Author's note: So this is Wave, with a lot more powerful ninjas thrown in for good measure.<p>

I just couldn't see this team seven having the slightest trouble otherwise.  
>The Shunshin Naruto refers to is modified for use in combat, though it takes <em>extreme<em> reflexes to use well, or great reflexes and Sharingan (like with Shisui) or Kyuubi Mode, like canon Naruto.

Why Sasuke's stamina was running out faster than his Chakra: the way I imagine it, Spiritual and Physical energy have a multiplier each, different for each ninja; so it's not just intelligence/resolve and stamina that they depend on.

So the Uchiha have high spiritual energy because of a high multiplier; since intelligence and resolve aren't exactly hereditary, only another factor could be at fault.


End file.
